Rise Records

January 31, 2018January 31, 2018

THE GALLERY: Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18

As I drive onto Lower Trinity Street to park my car I see a red, double-decker tour bus with a trailer right outside Mama Roux’s. At first I thought a band due to play in the main room of the O2 Institute had parked outside the wrong venue; it’s normally vans and cars I see parked on this street, not tour buses fit for major rock stars.

But of course, it makes sense. Tonight’s headline act, Miss May I, are traveling across the UK and Europe on their We Are Stronger Than Before tour with American bands, Fit For A King and Currents, along with Void of Vision from Australia. It’s only right such a metalcore smorgasbord should be in a big, comfortable tour bus together.

I arrive just in time to see Currents, who hail from Connecticut, open the night. This is their first international tour, which also means their first time in Birmingham. Usually, not many people arrive at a gig early enough to watch the opening acts but Currents really give it their all on the stage in front of the first few that watch them. First impressions count after all.

I shoot the first three songs of Currents’ set, then take advantage of a rare opportunity to sit in a booth upstairs at Mama Roux’s, reviewing the images I’ve taken.

As the next band set up the stage, I scan the room from the balcony, looking for interesting perspectives to shoot from. The room isn’t filling up with too many more people, so it appears this night won’t be the busiest – great for me making my way to and from the front of the stage, perhaps not so great for those on it.

I head to the floor to shoot Void of Vision, another band performing for the first time in Birmingham, although going by their solid set and engagement with the crowd you wouldn’t believe that. Donning a baseball cap and oversized t-shirt, frontman Jack Bergin paces the stage, encouraging the audience to start circle pits and wave their arms in the air.

From seeing a few people wearing their t-shirts, and a few comments I overhear, I sense that the main support act, Fit for a King, are the band a lot of people are really looking forward to. Their presence on stage has more people heading towards the front, giving me relatively little space to shoot from, but keeping us all in a nice and understanding crowd.

It’s only fair that I extend that courtesy too, by keeping my stance as low as possible, and by keeping my time at the front of the stage short so the ticket paying public can make use of the space. After all, fans have shelled out over £12 a ticket to experience a great night of metalcore, not the back of a photographer’s head. I spend the rest of Fit for a King’s set on the fringes of the room, enjoying watching the majority of people sing along to their songs word for word. I just know that Fit for a King are a band that really means something to these fans.

The atmosphere starts to feel a bit deflated by the time Ohio’s Miss May I grace the stage. It could be that people are slightly drained from the excitement of Fit for a King, but Miss May I don’t quite get the reception that I would have expected for a headline act.

They open their set with a few singles from their latest album, Shadows Inside, but it isn’t until they play more familiar numbers like ‘Hey Mister’ that the crowd really starts to give the band their full energy. Perhaps four full hours of metalcore can get a little too much in the end, but overall I’m sure it was an enjoyable night for the fans.

Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Miss May I, visit www.missmayimusic.com

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Fit for a King – supporting Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Fit for a King, visit www.fitforakingband.com

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Void of Vision – supporting Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Void of Vision, visit www.voidofvision.com

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Currents – supporting Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18 / Aatish Ramchurn – Birmingham Review

For more on Currents, visit www.currentsofficial.com

For more on Mama Roux’s, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/mamarouxs

For more on Surprise You’re Dead! Music, visit www.surpriseyouredeadmusic.co.uk

January 29, 2018January 28, 2018

BPREVIEW: Dead! @ The Flapper 31.01.18

Words by Aatish Ramchurn

As part of their The Golden Age Live tour, Dead! will be playing at The Flapper on Wednesday 31st January. Main support for the night (and most of the tour) comes from London punk trio, Kenneths – with Birmingham based bands, A Promise to Forget and Blank Parody also playing at The Flapper.

Tickets are priced at £8 (adv) plus booking fee, as presented by Surprise You’re Dead! Music. Doors open at The Flapper from 7pm. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

London rock band, Dead!, are no strangers to Birmingham’s music scene, having previously played at Alfie Birds, Scruffy Murphy’s, Subside, and the O2 Institute where they recently supported Deaf Havana. Wednesday 31st January will see them tick off The Flapper from the list of stages they have played in Birmingham, bringing the threatened music venue their own flavour of the punk and indie sound.

Touring the UK relentlessly since 2012, band members Alex Mountford, Sam Matlock, Louis Matlock, and Sam Chappell all met in Southampton, initially booking local shows themselves. But as Dead! began reaching a wider audience, playing shows up and down the UK, their excessive touring schedule eventually paid off and their popularity rose.

Having signed to Infectious Music/BMG and Rise Records in the USA, not bad for a band who have been described as ‘everything that’s wrong with art’, Dead! are kicking off the New Year with another mammoth tour of the UK – on the road promoting their recently released debut album, The Golden Age of Not Even Trying.

Indeed, 2018 could be a great year for Dead! as they reach out to new audiences whilst reacquainting themselves with older ones. Especially as they’ve been tipped by Kerrang! Magazine as one of their Hottest Bands of 2018.

‘The Golden Age of Not Even Trying’ – Dead!

For more on Dead! visit www.theinternetisdead.co.uk

For more on Kenneths, visit www.musicglue.com/kenneths

For more on A Promise to Forget, visit www.facebook.com/apromisetoforget

For more on Blank Parody, visit www.blankparody.com

For more on The Flapper, visit www.theflapper.co.uk

For more on Surprise You’re Dead! Music, visit www.surpriseyouredeadmusic.co.uk

January 23, 2018

BPREVIEW: Miss May I @ Mama Roux’s 24.01.18

Words by Aatish Ramchurn

On Wednesday 24th January, Miss May I arrive at Mama Roux’s in Birmingham as part of their We Are Stronger Than Before UK tour.

The concert is presented by Surprise You’re Dead! Music with tickets priced at £12 (adv) plus booking fee. Doors open at Mama Roux’s from 7pm. For direct gig info, including venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Support acts for Miss May I in Birmingham, and the rest of the UK tour, include Texan metalcore band Fit for a King, Void of Vision from Australia, and Currents from Connecticut, USA.

Having previously supported Bullet for My Valentine and Killswitch Engage in 2013 and 2014, respectively, at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, Miss May I embark on their first headline tour of the UK in six years.

Miss May I originally formed in 2007 in Troy, Ohio. Almost a year after their formation, they signed to punk and metal label, Rise Records, and released their debut album Apologies for the Weak. The band would go on to release four more albums under Rise Records until they released their sixth and latest album, Shadows Inside, through SharpTone Records in 2017.

Throughout their 10 year career, Miss May I have managed to retain their original line up of Levi Benton on vocals, BJ Stead on lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist Justin Aufdemkampe, drummer Jerod Boyd, and Ryan Neff on bass. Although Neff briefly left Miss May I between 2007 – 2009, when he joined Cincinnati rockers Rose Funeral, and was replaced by Josh Gillespie during his absence.

As their upcoming UK tour is titled from the opening lyrics of Miss May I’s single ‘Lost In The Grey’, from their latest Shadows Inside album, it would be safe to assume that their setlist will heavily feature a lot of new tracks, as well as a few favourites from previous albums.

But whatever the main setlist, with a packed support lineup consisting of Fit for a King, Void of Vision, and Currents, metalcore fans of Birmingham should have enough to keep them occupied when Miss May I headline at Mama Roux’s on Wednesday 24th January.

‘Shadows Inside’ – Miss May I

For more on Miss May I, visit www.missmayimusic.com

For more on Fit for a King, visit www.fitforakingband.com

For more on Void of Vision, visit www.voidofvision.com

For more on Currents, visit www.currentsofficial.com

For more on Mama Roux’s, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/mamarouxs

For more on Surprise You’re Dead! Music, visit www.surpriseyouredeadmusic.co.uk

November 29, 2017

THE GALLERY: PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17

Words & pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

I doubt I’ve ever seen O2 Academy this busy. As we are filed into the venue, I’m truly surprised and slightly overwhelmed at the number of people who’ve come to see PVRIS tonight. In hindsight, this shouldn’t have been surprising – with frequent airplay on Radio 1, they’ve become a staple in the alternative rock scene and are gaining more and more fans by the minute.

First up was Tyne, a 19-year-old chill pop artist hailing from Cambridge. She set the bar exceedingly high for the evening – if you’re a fan of the likes of Lorde, Halsey and Gabrielle Aplin, then you’ll love her stuff. Tracks like ‘Crawl’ and ‘Girly’ crept under my skin and had me yearning to hear more, while her cover of Bring Me Horizon’s ‘Avalanche’ was executed to soul splitting perfection.

Tyne has the ability to combine meaningful lyrics with electronic rhythms without beating the life out of it like so many other artists do. She’s clearly destined for great things; I’d highly recommend catching her at a show and giving her a listen.

The next act couldn’t have been further from the last. COIN owned the stage for the next thirty minutes or so, belting out track after track of indie pop perfection. Their energy was intoxicating as singer, Chase Lawrence, cavorted across the stage, jumping on and off the drum kit to thrash out melodies on the synthesizers. The crowd adored it, dancing along to the summery beats of tracks like ‘Talk Too Much’. If the Arctic Monkeys and Circa Waves were to have a lovechild, then Nashville based COIN would be the result.

Then, finally… PVRIS. I’d heard mixed views of their live performances from friends and through work, and was really hoping for a show I could rave about for hours on end.

And to an extent, I could. Visually, the setup was stunning – strobe lights lit the stage while large screens projected flickering flames and embers as Lynn went to town on hits such as ‘St Patrick’ and ‘My House’. PVRIS’s setlist was varied enough to have a taste of their newer material from their latest release, All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell, while still recalling back to tracks from White Noise.

However, Lynn’s gospel-like voice seemed to struggle at times against the heavy crescendo of guitar and drums from bandmates Alex and Brian. And although many members of the crowd were happy dancing at the front, I’d have enjoyed the show much more if I was sat up in the balcony of O2 Academy.

PVRIS more than made up for these few flaws, as I truly am nitpicking here. Their interaction with the crowd was heartfelt and genuine too, with Lynn exclaiming how, apart from at festivals, this was the largest crowd they had ever played to.

PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on PVRIS, visit www.pvris.com

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COIN – supporting PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on COIN, visit www.thisiscoin.com

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Tyne – supporting PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17 / Eleanor Sutcliffe – Birmingham Review

For more on Tyne, visit www.officialtyne.com

For more from the O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham

November 20, 2017

BPREVIEW: PVRIS @ O2 Academy Birmingham 23.11.17

Words by Ed King

On Thursday 23^rd November, PVRIS come to the O2 Academy Birmingham – with support from Coin and Tyne.

Doors open at 7pm, with standard tickets priced at £19.50 (+bf) as presented by Live Nation. For direct gig info, including full venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

Formed in 2012, PVRIS began life as a metalcore five piece – hailing from the New England state of Massachusetts, in North East America. Leaving two band members and two names behind them, the now three piece PVRIS have carved a clear path for themselves in the land where rock meets electronica. Fronted by Lynn Gunn, with Alex Babinski and Brian Macdonald on lead and bass guitar respectively, their sound incorporates a tough pop tinged rock punch – with Gunn’s ferocious vocals leading a dark charge across the band’s brooding yet atmospheric and uplifting melodies. Imagine Ellie Goulding and The xx got in a bar fight with 30 Seconds to Mars…

PVRIS released their debut album, White Noise, through Rise Records in 2014 – with the bulk of material coming from Lynn Gunn, alongside Blake Harnage as the album’s producer. White Noise was a significant shift in sound, with a backbone of electronica behind the debut from a band that cut their teeth on the hardcore and metalcore circuits.

But it worked. White Noise received widespread thumbs up from the rock and wider music press and saw PVRIS booked on to several high profile tours as support, with their own UK headline gigs confidently selling out – one of which was at the O2 Academy Birmingham.

Now on the road with their sophomore album, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell, PVRIS return to Birmingham venue on Thursday 23^rd November.

Released in August 2017, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell has already garnered a deluge of positive reviews – with the album making the top 20’s on album charts in Australia, New Zealand, North America and the UK where it peaked at No4. The album’s lead single, ‘Heaven’, was premiered on Radio One on 30^th August 2017.

‘Heaven’ – PVRIS

PVRIS play the O2 Academy Birmingham on Thursday 23^rd November, with support from Coin and Tyne. For direct gig info, including full venue details and online ticket sales, click here.

For more on PVRIS, visit www.pvris.com

For more from the O2 Academy Birmingham, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham